European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 12, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                President Clinton wearing a leather jacket inscribed with his name and title meets with members of the military Community at Ramst Einab Germany earlier this summer. By Pattwell congressional quarterly t is Bill Clinton s Pentagon now. The president has set its funding appointed its key personnel and approved its new strategy. He has built his budget around the conclusions of the defense department s 1993 Bottom up review that determined How Large How modern and How combat ready . Forces should be in the Post cold War world. He has stood fast against efforts by liberals to slice his $264 billion defense request for fiscal 1995, in doing so he has delivered on the position he staked out in his state of the Union address Jan. 25 the budget i Send to Congress draws the line against further defense cuts. We must not Cut defense  and despite the trouncing last year of his Effort to eliminate the military s ban on homosexuals Clinton has managed to stamp the nation s defense policies with some of his political and philosophical priorities such As an emphasis on economic conversion and expanded opportunities for women in the military. But those accomplishments bring their own burdens. Now Clinton bears responsibility for a program he has called a defense plan that maintains our Post cold War Security at a lower Cost Clinton must prove he can deliver the military Force and the High tech weaponry that he has promised his budgets will buy. And he must defend his program against future pressures for cuts As the defense budget squeeze which was tight from the Start gets even tighter. Thus far Clinton has fended off challenges to his defense programs from the left with the help of a solid Alliance of congressional republicans and centrist democrats. That same coalition concerned about controlling the Federal deficit has shied away from trying to Force Clinton to restore any significant portion of the $123 billion hat he has pledged to Cut Over five years from the Long term Pentagon spending plan he inherited from president Bush. Nevertheless pro Pentagon lawmakers such As Senate armed services committee chairman Sam Nunn d-ca., have been emphatic in their belief that the defense department cannot avoid a train wreck As the optimistic spending assumptions run into fiscal reality. Today our military forces Are ready they Are capable and they Are manned by High Quality dedicated people Nunn said in Senate debate this summer. But there Are some real danger signals on the  developments in recent months will Only make it More difficult for the Clinton Pentagon to live within its tight budgets. In mid july defense Secretary William Perry raised the bar a notch / declaring that future Pentagon budgets should provide full Cost of Oving pay increases for military personnel rather than the lower than inflation raises continued on Page 17 president Clinton s head Man in the Pentagon Secretary of defense William Perry meets the press. Closer look combat readiness do too few do too much keeping . Military forces in a High state of readiness for Battle has been a politically sacrosanct priority since 1980, when the Carter administration was rocked by revelations that acute shortages of spare parts training time and experienced personnel had created a hollow  politics aside the Case for keeping a fighting Edge is even More compelling now that the forces Are More thinly spread with a smaller number of personnel carrying out essentially the same missions. By the Pentagon s usual standards president Clinton s program looks solid. In the administration s fiscal 1995 defense request funds sought for operations and maintenance increased even As All other parts of the budget declined. This would fund the services desired Tempo of operations measured in terms such As the average number of flight hours per month for pilots. Of Tempo has been regarded As a measure of How much training time the forces Are getting. But some critics object that the combat skills of . Forces May be atrophy ing despite the High of Tempo in Clinton s budget because so Many units Are committed to essentially humanitarian missions such As enforcing the no Fly zone Over Iraq. Flying squares in the air Over Iraq is not maintaining the proficiency of f-15 pilots argues one Republican defense analyst. It s sucking up of  hawkish critics warn that Clinton is undermining morale by trying to maintain a High Tempo of overseas deployments while he cuts the size of the Force. The problem seems particularly acute for certain types of units such As Azacs radar surveillance Crews who Are deployed overseas for up to 170 Days and the 2,000 Man Marine expeditionary units that the Pentagon uses to quickly establish a . Ground combat Force near trouble spots often with Only a Brief respite Between assignments. Our commitments have not declined Senate armed services committee member Daniel Coats r-lnd., said in a july floor speech. We Are simply asking More and More of fewer and fewer people he said of the frequently deployed units. House Hawks Echo that warning. It tells you How thin your Bench has become says House armed services committee member Paul Mchale a a. When we do not have a backup unit. We re obligated to overcome common  Mchale a former Marine who saw Active duty during the Gulf War As a mobilized reservist dismisses gop claims that Clinton s budgets already have dulled the services combat Edge. But he worries that incidents such As the rapid redeployment of the Meus Are eroding the Quality of life for the troops with unfortunate consequences to follow just because somebody s prepared to jump on a grenade does t mean that you should routinely ask them to do so he says. Pat Towell Scripps Howard Nowa service monday september 12, 1994 the stars and strikes 15